Perhaps instead of starting the player in a vault (again) you start off as part of a rag-tag team hired to investigate a seemingly abandoned vault (oh god I just pitched Fallout 4's intro with a role-reversal). Feels like prime opportunity to flesh-out your character's moral compass and introduce some interesting characters - and this is just the intro. Who am I kidding, though...just setting myself up for disappointment.

Not exactly Fallout 5, but I'd love for someone to set up another super convincing hoax site similar to Survivor 2299, but then when the countdown finished it redirected to one of the myriad of video essays bashing what Bethesda has done to the franchise (Gospel of Anon, anyone?). I have a feeling that would be the only way to get mainstream gamers to recognize our point of view.

@UnlimitedSprint
If convincing people with words doesn't work, why do you think that trickery will? It like those spam messages that ends with asking you accept Jesus. Besides long form essays and videos along with the release of FO4 and the release of Witcher 3 (as a direct comparison to FO4) has persuaded enough people that Bethesda has bastardize Fallout.

People's tolerance of Bethesda Game Studio is already at its limit (the rest of Bethesda is still being tolerated). It can't pull any cheap tricks to generate good will after attempting paid mods so poorly twice. It can't release a game until a new console comes out that can sort of handle the bloat of the Creation Engine. It doesn't have the talent to make a new engine or the smarts to hire someone who can make a new engine.

Being realistic?
A return to the perk and skill system of 3 and NV. (Ideally NV)
NOT on the west coast (assuming it's going to be done by Bethesda)
No more 'legendary' enemies and inexplicably enchanted 'legendary' weapons and armor
No more settlement system, or a very limited version
Keep the weapon modification and crafting system, improve upon it if possible
A halfway decent story

More settlements
No silly Obsidian
More radiant quests
No pre-built settlements (they make me feel insecure about Danktuary)
Set it in the Commonwealth again- it was great location
More zip of Nuka-Cola
More ghouls!

No more animals and bugs having loot.
More random encounters.
More in-depth dialogue and outcomes.
Keep the FPS/RPG aspects.
Vehicles.....you can hack terminals and have fusion power but you can't hotwire a motorcycle?
No more moronic weapons. Broadsider, junkjet etc.

No more animals and bugs having loot.
More random encounters.
More in-depth dialogue and outcomes.
Keep the FPS/RPG aspects.
Vehicles.....you can hack terminals and have fusion power but you can't hotwire a motorcycle?
No more moronic weapons. Broadsider, junkjet etc.

Obsidian
More iconic real life weapons
More iconic real life outfits
HUGE MAP!!!
takes over 10 years to make
No radiant quests (if so make them GOOD!)
No pre war scenes
Cutscenes
More RP
be able to kill everything
MORE FACTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obsidian
More iconic real life weapons
More iconic real life outfits
HUGE MAP!!!
takes over 10 years to make
No radiant quests (if so make them GOOD!)
No pre war scenes
Cutscenes
More RP
be able to kill everything
MORE FACTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't base it in San Francisco Bethesda, please just no. You still have New York City, Miami, and Philadelphia left on the east coast. I'd rather they not go back to the west coast until they can at the very least get a united writing staff and task someone with pointing out continuity errors.

Retcon those fallen vertibirds and prewar X-01 suits. I don't even care how sloppily they retcon it, you DO NOT neuter the Enclave.

Bring back powerarmor training. That was a good balance and made getting powerarmor feel more of an accomplishment.

No more "new" suits of prewar powerarmor, the T-60b was already pushing it and it's rather irritating how the T51-b clashes with it's design.

No more of that core stuff, power armor should be a badass accomplishment, not a temporary powerup.

Only 1-3 buildable settlements please.

Allow the player to salvage damn near everything outside settlement. If the player feels remorse for cleaning up a cool area, thats their own problem.

No Brotherhood of Steel in this game please. If the fans whine, fuck 'em. Give some other factions some powerarmor expertise, it's been more than 200 god damned years already, it's silly enough that with how advanced the NCR is, that they can't figure out how to get into a power suit.

Bring back weapon/armor degrading. That was great.

Bring back ammo types, but make it much easier to switch between them.

Bring back Ron Perlman.

Stop cutting so many corners Bethesda. Those vaults in 4 felt too small. The vaults were intended for 1000~ people.

Stop trying to be like Mass Effect

bring back perks and skills

make SPECIAL actually matter, give newcomers prebuilt characters to use

Bring back dialogue choice.

More companions with competent writing. More Nick Valentine, less Strong.

Stop fucking putting more FEV and different Super Mutants in the game. You have no good excuse.